Dining Room Sunlight

"Dining Room Sunlight"

10"x8"

I feel much better about this interior scene.  I loved the wonderful sunshine pouring through the bay windows and the shadows that resulted.  The beautiful home of my son and daughter-in-law have provided the photo source for this scene and the one I posted last week.  I am sure they were wondering why I was walking around their house snapping photos here and there!

I subscribe to a blog written by a wonderful plein air artist from The Netherlands by the name of Roos Schuring.  A few days ago her blog featured these words:  "Fail fast, fail some more.  Admit the failure and do better.  Failing can be fun.  Failing is a given."  These words resonated with me as I am struggling with these interior scapes but I keep plugging away and hopefully some day I will win!  

The struggle continues...

Shadows on White - Day 6

"Shadows on White"

#6 of 30

6"x8" oil on panel

$75.00

Here is another one of the "or not" paintings.  I went plein air painting earlier this week with my friend Dottie Leatherwood to a place I have never been before.  I have driven down this road a million times and did not realize a 10-acre farm was tucked away behind this busy main street in downtown Matthews.  

This large white shed caught my eye because of the strong shadows under the eaves.  The foreground was a fenced in large area planted with flowers of every hue but I've only placed a few of them here.  

It was such a calming oasis in a busy world just a few yards away.

Tomorrow we are bound for France!

The White Barn

The White Barn

18"x24" oil on gallery wrap canvas

$695.00

Here is another painting that I completed during my recent residency.  The photo is from a horse farm not far from where I live.  This photo had a lot of strong shadow shapes along with some bright sunlit areas and those two things drew me to paint this scene.  I felt I captured a lot of depth in this one and am really pleased with the way this one turned out.  I hope you like it too.

Let There Be Light

Let There Be Light

24"x24" oil on gallery wrap canvas

$795.00

This is a painting that I completed during my recent artist-in-residency program.  The photo was taken at Bass Lake in the mountains near Blowing Rock NC, about 2 1/2 hours from Charlotte.

Bass Lake has a very walkable pathway running along the banks.  The sun rays were hitting the tree trunks just beautifully and we were lucky enough to catch this photo.

PAP-SE Workshop in Charleston SC - Part 1

     This past Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I was one of 15 lucky students able to participate in a three-day PAP-SE workshop in Charleston sponsored by PAP-SE and Galerie on Broad.  Each day we had a different instructor painting in a different location.  Jim Richards, Bill Davidson and Larry Moore were the fabulous instructors this year.  They each did a demo in the morning, followed by lunch and then we fanned out and it was our turn to try to create something based on what they taught that morning.

     Day one started with a demo across the street from the gallery.  Jim Richards painted his light-filled street scene emphasizing sunlight and shadow in a value sketch of three values.  He then added color slowly to create an inviting Broad Street scene.

Jim Richards using a piece of cardboard to blur, soften and lose the edges.

     Day two took us out to Shem Creek Park where Bill Davidson showed us how to construct a marsh scene where composition and design are paramount and showed how shape and value are critical to a good painting.

Bill Davidson showing how to create depth in his marsh scene.

Tomorrow I will finish my recap with Part 2.